A MATLAB-Based Interactive Environment for EMG Signal Decomposition Utilizing Matched Template Filters

An interactive software package for analyzing and decomposing electromyographic (EMG) signals is designed, constructed, and implemented using the MATLAB high-level programming language and its interactive environment. EMG signal analysis in the form of signal decomposition into their constituent motor unit potential trains (MUPTs) is considered as a classification task. Matched template filter methods have been employed for the classification of motor unit potentials (MUPs) in which the assignment criterion used for MUPs is based on a combination of MUP shapes and motor unit firing pattern information. The developed software package consists of several graphical user interfaces used to detect individual MUP waveforms from raw EMG signals, extract relevant features, and classify MUPs into MUPTs using matched template filter classifiers. The proposed software package is useful for enhancing the analysis quality and providing a systematic approach to the EMG signal decomposition process. It also worked as a very helpful environment for testing and evaluating algorithms developed for EMG signal decomposition research

Composing graphical user interfaces in a purely functional language

This thesis is about building interactive graphical user interfaces in a compositional manner. Graphical user interface application hold out the promise of providing users with an interactive, graphical medium by which they can carry out tasks more effectively and conveniently. The application aids the user to solve some task. Conceptually, the user is in charge of the graphical medium, controlling the order and the rate at which individual actions are performed. This user-centred nature of graphical user interfaces has considerable ramifications for how software is structured. Since the application now services the user rather than the other way around, it has to be capable of responding to the user's actions when and in whatever order they might occur. This transfer of overall control towards the user places heavy burden on programming systems, a burden that many systems don't support too well. Why? Because the application now has to be structured so that it is responsive to whatever action the user may perform at any time. The main contribution of this thesis is to present a compositional approach to constructing graphical user interface applications in a purely functional programming language The thesis is concerned with the software techniques used to program graphical user interface applications, and not directly with their design. A starting point for the work presented here was to examine whether an approach based on functional programming could improve how graphical user interfaces are built. Functional programming languages, and Haskell in particular, contain a number of distinctive features such as higher-order functions, polymorphic type systems, lazy evaluation, and systematic overloading, that together pack quite a punch, at least according to proponents of these languages. A secondary contribution of this thesis is to present a compositional user interface framework called Haggis, which makes good use of current functional programming techniques. The thesis evaluates the properties of this framework by comparing it to existing systems

Functional Baby Talk: Analysis of Code Fragments from Novice Haskell Programmers

What kinds of mistakes are made by novice Haskell developers, as they learn about functional programming? Is it possible to analyze these errors in order to improve the pedagogy of Haskell? In 2016, we delivered a massive open online course which featured an interactive code evaluation environment. We captured and analyzed 161K interactions from learners. We report typical novice developer behavior; for instance, the mean time spent on an interactive tutorial is around eight minutes. Although our environment was restricted, we gain some understanding of Haskell novice errors. Parenthesis mismatches, lexical scoping errors and do block misunderstandings are common. Finally, we make recommendations about how such beginner code evaluation environments might be enhanced

A Multimedia Interactive Environment Using Program Archetypes: Divide-and-Conquer

As networks and distributed systems that can exploit parallel computing become more widespread, the need for ways to teach parallel programming effectively grows as well. Even though many colleges and universities provide courses on parallel programming [1], most of those courses are reserved for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. There is a demand for ways to teach fundamental parallel programming concepts to people with just a working knowledge of programming. By using the idea of a software archetype, and providing a learning environment that teaches both concept and coding, we hope to satisfy this need. This paper presents an overview of the multimedia approach we took in teaching parallel programming and offers Divide-and-Conquer as an example of its use

The future of technology enhanced active learning – a roadmap

The notion of active learning refers to the active involvement of learner in the learning process, capturing ideas of learning-by-doing and the fact that active participation and knowledge construction leads to deeper and more sustained learning. Interactivity, in particular learnercontent interaction, is a central aspect of technology-enhanced active learning. In this roadmap, the pedagogical background is discussed, the essential dimensions of technology-enhanced active learning systems are outlined and the factors that are expected to influence these systems currently and in the future are identified. A central aim is to address this promising field from a best practices perspective, clarifying central issues and formulating an agenda for future developments in the form of a roadmap

A conceptual architecture for interactive educational multimedia

Learning is more than knowledge acquisition; it often involves the active participation of the learner in a variety of knowledge- and skills-based learning and training activities. Interactive multimedia technology can support the variety of interaction channels and languages required to facilitate interactive learning and teaching. A conceptual architecture for interactive educational multimedia can support the development of such multimedia systems. Such an architecture needs to embed multimedia technology into a coherent educational context. A framework based on an integrated interaction model is needed to capture learning and training activities in an online setting from an educational perspective, to describe them in the human-computer context, and to integrate them with mechanisms and principles of multimedia interaction